Automotive

Maintenance Costs Vs. Fuel Costs - Toyota

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  • Feb 28th, 2005 12:48 am
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Newbie
Dec 31, 2004
24 posts

Maintenance Costs Vs. Fuel Costs - Toyota

I am thinking about buying a new vehicle in the spring, and have been leaning towards a light truck.

At the dealer the other day I was going over the Tacomas (Light trucks), and in comes a Prius (Hybrid Car).

The Prius would use a third of the fuel that the truck would, and is a pretty cool car.

As I've researched the Prius, I've across a bunch of nightmare stories of cars not working, fuel cells wearing out or being depleted, and drivetrain repairs costing as much as $15,000 US. The trucks have their own share of faults, but they are much cheaper fixes (leaking windshields being the most common). Both cars cost about the same ($32,000 vs $35,000)

Anyone have a method of analysis for factoring in probability and cost of repairs for an average vehicle of a given make, and the numbers to feed the comparison for each of these cars?

Nova
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Jan 5, 2004
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Laval
The first thing to decide is do you need a light truck? Or are you buying it because its the trend? I own a hybrid and have no problems with it four 4 years now.

www.bluewhippet.net
Deal Addict
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Jan 24, 2003
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i find it funny how u would choose those 2 cars when they are completely different class...
Why are hurricanes named after women? When they come they are wet and wild but when they leave they take your house AND your car.
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Mar 24, 2004
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If you want to save fuel, get a diesel. VW's TDI engines are indestructable. It's just their wonky electronics MAY be problematic. However, as with most european carmakers, there are people who absolutely swear by them, and others who absolutely loathe them.

I'd get a TDI Jetta Wagon if you're REALLY concerned about fuel economy and space.

However, any small fwd four banger should save so much gas anyway. (Civic, Corolla, etc etc)
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Mar 22, 2004
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RFD
KevC wrote:If you want to save fuel, get a diesel. VW's TDI engines are indestructable. It's just their wonky electronics MAY be problematic. However, as with most european carmakers, there are people who absolutely swear by them, and others who absolutely loathe them.

I'd get a TDI Jetta Wagon if you're REALLY concerned about fuel economy and space.

However, any small fwd four banger should save so much gas anyway. (Civic, Corolla, etc etc)
PLEASE DO NOT buy a VW with TDI. Numerous problems and headaches with them. Plus if you do buy them and they brake down (which will probably happen), it will be VERY hard to find someone who will fix a diesel engine and for good money. Stay away from VW TDI's at any costs.
Newbie
Dec 31, 2004
24 posts
ronny1980 wrote:i find it funny how u would choose those 2 cars when they are completely different class...
I agree completely. In fact I was wanting to get away from boring and everyday cars (I've been in a minivan for the last 6 yrs, and have a Saturn to trade...) So I basically wanted something that would seat 2, and could carry a fair amount of cargo.

The classes are very different, but they both fit my needs. Both are fun and different. Plus I have been having work interviews for a new job about 1.5 hours from home, so all of a sudden fuel economy starts to sound really appealing.

Nova
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Aug 2, 2001
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Nova_Craft wrote:I agree completely. In fact I was wanting to get away from boring and everyday cars (I've been in a minivan for the last 6 yrs, and have a Saturn to trade...) So I basically wanted something that would seat 2, and could carry a fair amount of cargo.

The classes are very different, but they both fit my needs. Both are fun and different. Plus I have been having work interviews for a new job about 1.5 hours from home, so all of a sudden fuel economy starts to sound really appealing.

Nova
If fuel economy is that much of a concern then do not buy the Tacoma.
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Apr 9, 2004
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All Honda cars that are equipped with VTEC give pretty good mileage. Even their older, racy Integra Type-R gives upwards of 30+mpg. And that's a car that can output 195hp from just a 1.8 litre engine.
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Oct 26, 2003
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kingsley wrote:All Honda cars that are equipped with VTEC give pretty good mileage. Even their older, racy Integra Type-R gives upwards of 30+mpg. And that's a car that can output 195hp from just a 1.8 litre engine.
30+mpg if you drive like an old lady

if you want to use the Type R as the car its design to be ...it'll gulp down fuel as fast as a fat lady eating her pie
Deal Addict
Jan 20, 2005
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Thornhill
Honda Accord Hybrid version loos exactly like the normal version, Sleek ride, but it comes with a 3.0l v6 engine and a hybrid pack or something (was reading about it in the Star)...

Check it out ;)
But got a question, Toyota Tacoma vs Toyota Prius (they both do totaly difference things, how did you go from a Tacoma to a Prius :P ?)
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Jan 11, 2004
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i would think the accord hybrid, will be otu of his price range, 40K+?

lol about vw, i noticed that every other car has a rear brake light burnt out... :razz:
mau108 wrote:Honda Accord Hybrid version loos exactly like the normal version, Sleek ride, but it comes with a 3.0l v6 engine and a hybrid pack or something (was reading about it in the Star)...

Check it out ;)
But got a question, Toyota Tacoma vs Toyota Prius (they both do totaly difference things, how did you go from a Tacoma to a Prius :P ?)
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Feb 16, 2003
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The problem with these so called efficient vehicles they are much more expensive than a regular car in the same class.

And the ROI is usually more than five years... these days who keeps a car for more than five years anyway??
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Apr 9, 2004
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TenzoR wrote:30+mpg if you drive like an old lady

if you want to use the Type R as the car its design to be ...it'll gulp down fuel as fast as a fat lady eating her pie
Umm....no.

"Over 1500 miles of slam-dunk driving, the Integra Type-R returned 30.7 mpg with a motorway cruising best of 33.6 mpg." - Car Magazine, May 1998
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Mar 24, 2004
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radeonboy wrote:PLEASE DO NOT buy a VW with TDI. Numerous problems and headaches with them. Plus if you do buy them and they brake down (which will probably happen), it will be VERY hard to find someone who will fix a diesel engine and for good money. Stay away from VW TDI's at any costs.
KevC wrote:However, as with most european carmakers, there are people who absolutely swear by them, and others who absolutely loathe them.
It's really not that bad. I believe the pros far outweigh the cons. Especially for power, a chip will give you globs of torque.

Check out tdiclub.com if you want more information.
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Sep 7, 2002
1585 posts
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Newmarket
alll i can say is if the audi a2 is available here anytime soon it's on my list of considerations. anyone else see it in the gov of canada booth at cias?? toronto to vancouver on....wait for it....wait for it....$85 of diesel :eek:
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